Tintin in the Congo

In 1929, Belgian author Georges Prosper Remi - better known by the pen name Hergé – began writing and illustrating a comic series which featured a man named Tintin and his Congolese sidekick Coco. Hergé continued to write about Tintin until his death in 1983. A compilation of these comics, titled Tintin in the Congo, was first published in 1930.

According to this Wikipedia article about Hergé, “The notable qualities of the Tintin stories include their vivid humanism, a realistic feel produced by meticulous and wide ranging research, and Hergé's ligne claire drawing style. Adult readers enjoy the many satirical references to the history and politics of the 20th century.”
On the other hand, according to another Wikipedia article, this one about Hergé’s work itself, “It has provoked controversy, particularly in modern times, with complaints from people who feel the depiction of Africans is racist, and from animal rights groups who feel Tintin engages in cruel behaviour. Hergé later said that he was influenced by the naïve, colonialist views of the time.



Bienvenu Mbutu, formerly of the Congo but now living in Belgium, read the Tintin comics as a boy, as did many Congolese. His mother purchased it for him. But many years later, Mbutu reread the book. And now, years later, Mbutu is offended by Hergé’s book and by the way it characterizes blacks in Congo. In fact, according to a “bit” I heard on the radio on Friday, Mbutu is bringing both civil and criminal action against the publisher of the book. He wants them to either stop publishing it or, at minimum, label it clearly as being potentially offensive.

Does the Tintin book contain offensive imagery? I don’t know – I haven’t read it. But it wouldn’t surprise me to find that a book written 80 years ago wouldn’t be considered in any way “enlightened” by today’s standards. On the other hand, Mbutu may bs surprised to see some unintended consequences arising from his court action. This Daily Mail article reports that, “The controversy prompted a 3,800 per cent sales rise, catapulting the book from 4,343rd to 5th in the Amazon bestseller chart in just four days.”

According to the previously-cited Daily Mail article, “Tintin in the Congo, the second in the classic comic-strip series, has also come under fire for depicting cruelty to animals. The hero goes game hunting and in one original scene blew up a rhinoceros with a stick of dynamite – Hergé redrew it after complaints from Scandinavia.”

But now – nearly 3 decades after his death – the author is unable to rewrite his manuscript.

Are there some tasteless characterizations in Hergé's work? Likely so. But should we ban it? Are we going too far?

How about banning Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities for its violent imagery? Or banning sale of scripture? After all the Koran might offend non-Muslims, and perhaps the Bible would offend those of the Hindu faith. For that matter, many of today’s modern Christian women might find Paul’s advice on marriage to be offensive. And I'm willing to bet that Mark Twain wouldn't pass today's test for political correctness.

So once again I ask: are we going too far?

And how far should we go?

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